Winners & Losers

Welcome to one of our new features and where your old pal Hobbes (yes, I’m now referring to myself in the third person) gives you the winners and losers on recent political happenings.  Today, the recent redistricting by the Niagara County Legislature:

Winners

1)       Chairman Bill Ross:  Ross said from the outset the process would be fair and transparent and that is exactly what happened.  In spite of Dennis Virtuoso’s child -like tantrum about the Independent Redistricting Commission at the start of the process, Ross proved good people from the community can come together and do the right thing.

2)      Rural Towns:  The town supervisors of Niagara County’s rural towns were vocal early and often on how they wanted their districts to look and they pretty much got what they wanted.

3)      Village of Lewiston:  The Village people (that makes me laugh to write that) wanted nothing to do with Niagara Falls and weren’t shy about saying so.  They got their wish in a new district with part of Wheatfield.

4)      Dennis Virtuoso:  Virtuoso was all over these hearings and meetings and his whining led to parts of Niagara Falls combined back into one district.

Losers

1)       Rob Clark:  Clark said at the public meeting that he didn’t like Niagara/Wheatfield combined with Niagara Falls.  When the commission addressed Virtuoso’s issues, Wheatfield got pulled out and the Town of Niagara was combined with even more of the Falls.  Rob, if it’s any consolation, the people of Wheatfield are grateful.

2)      Virtuoso:  The man has gumption.  He tried to get all of the Legislative district numbers changed so his district would still be #4 and he wouldn’t have to buy new lawn signs.  He failed.

3)      Ken Hamilton:  We like Ken and believe his argument about how a majority minority district in 2011 actually hurts minority representation, but his call fell on deaf ears as no one seemed willing to challenge prevailing law.  Perhaps it’s time to recognize that laws put on the books 40 years ago to help minorities need to fresh look….the times have changed.

Save the Empty Promises

If I get one more piece of mail from a candidate for public office claiming that "I am not a politician", I'm going to jump off the Rainbow Bridge. I've got news for anyone interested in putting his name on a ballot: you're a politician. The sheer definition dictates that, if you're running for political office, you're a politician. No matter how a candidate tries to spin it, there's no getting away from it.

While we're at it, let's get one other thing clear: all candidates for public office hate taxes. And they want to create jobs. Oh, and the other candidate is the equivalent of the anti-Christ.

Seriously, is it any wonder that people are so disenfranchised? Virtually every candidate for office, regardless of the level, says the same exact thing. They're all going to cut taxes; they're all going to create jobs; they're all going to stop our children from fleeing the area.

What would be so refreshing is to have a candidate actually present a platform for his candidacy. Explain to me why he is the better choice. Tell me how he is going to cuts spending & taxes and what programs will be sacrificed in order achieve these cost-cutting measures. I know it's a novel concept, but it would sure be a refreshing change.

Instead, we get the same tired message about taxes, jobs & kids. Spare me. This region has long been the redheaded step-child of New York, and we demand more. We need specifics. We deserve to know exactly what a candidate plans to do to address the problems that pertain to the issues that are relevant to our needs.

Voters will gravitate to candidates who have the right combination of intellect and balls to say what needs to be said. Take for example Donald Trump. While I'm not for or against The Donald, he will never shy away from the "fringe" topics that so many are afraid to go after. Thus you see him leading potential GOP challengers for the presidential nomination, even though he hasn't announced his intentions. We need this type of assertiveness on a local level.

Do I want our kids to have a future in Western New York? Absolutely, but political rhetoric and empty promises aren't the answer. Let's get down to brass tacks and hear some real solutions. We deserve at least that much.

Starting Fresh

As regular readers have noticed, Niagara Times has undergone some changes recently. Call it what you may, but the bottom line is that I have not been happy with where the blog has gone and what it has become.

When this site was launched, it was to provide insight into happenings in Niagara County, primarily on political issues, and to often provide commentary on those happenings. We’ve gotten away from that. I say “we’ve gotten away from that” because Niagara Times has never been one person. While those who contribute to the blog all use the same login and thus the same posting name, Niagara Times has had no less than six people contributing commentary on a regular basis. Quite frankly, this has impacted the quality of the site.

Since almost the beginning of Niagara Times, I have received tons of email with links, rumors, story ideas, and sometimes almost fully completed “posts.”  While I always reviewed much of this, in the earliest days of the blog, I really stuck with as much original content as possible.  My reason for the existence of the blog was to let us all hear the whispers of the political class, break some significant political news stories from time to time and provide analysis of what was going on in our community.

Yet, we seem to have drifted from that as I’ve assumed additional job & family responsibilities and allowed others to dictate the tone of the blog and post on the blog. I’ve relied too much on outside content which I think has made the site seem quite shrill at times and certainly has taken on a more state-wide and national focus.  The number of truly thoughtful, analytical pieces has decreased.  An increasing amount of “spoon-fed” content from those with an agenda which I would have dismissed before has made it onto the site.

Today, that ends.  I can’t promise that there will be a post every single day as I have for so long, but the content will improve, and the purely attack-mode will cease.  I’m still okay with taking shots at those who deserve it and calling out the bullshit around us, but it will be with purpose, with thought and with wit.

Consider the new look of the site my symbolic way of saying we’re starting fresh.

Blog

Niagara Times will be dark for the next few days while some changes are made to the site. Please tune in again next week.

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